Bean bag toss game board set

ABSTRACT

An improvement on a bean-bag game-board that allows the user to fold up the game boards into a case and easily carry them around with the bean bags inside. The popular game is known by names like “bag toss”, “bags”, “tailgate toss” or “cornhole”. The present invention is a light-weight, easy to use and carry version of the original game that takes up minimal space when consolidated for storage. Lightweight construction allows one game board to fit within the other while forming a case for game bags. A handle for carrying that also acts as a hinge-free and locking fastener for easy assembly when game set is packed for carrying or storage. Folding legs allow the boards to fit together in a small space and have an offset pivot point that provides the strength of having three points of contact when in the open position.

REFERENCES CITED

U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,065 July 1990 De Lapa

U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,360 June 1994 St Pierre

U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,216 February 1999 Sparacino

U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,598 June 2001 Conville

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention refers to a game that has many different names and rule variations. It is called bean bag toss, bags, tailgate toss and more specifically cornhole. The game of cornhole is so called because of the target of a 6″ diameter hole in a slanted board target and the corn filled bags that are used to project to this target. It is said that the game has been around in some form for centuries. The game is well documented and has associations that determine rules and specifications for equipment. The prior art is filled with different examples of slight variations in size and design. The problem with these designs is that they are either constructed of 2″×4″ wood frames that are 2′ wide×4′ long (regulation cornhole size) which makes them very heavy, or there are lighter style boards that are smaller than regulation size making them illegal for use at tournaments. Regulation size, tournament worthy boards are heavy and take up an unnecessary amount of space when in storage and at roughly 25 to 30 lbs. per board, they are often carried one at a time from storage place or vehicle to game positions, with the bags being carried separately. The idea for this invention was conceived of and put on the market for sale by website less than one year before the submission of this application in October 2010. Since the introduction of easyhandler.com, a similar idea was introduced that uses detachable suitcase hinges coupled with a suitcase style handle to benefit from the suitcase-style and bag storage aspect of the easyhandler.com design, however it is larger when stored, more complicated to use and manufacture than the immediate invention.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a unique “bag toss” or “cornhole” game board set that is lighter in weight while retaining the official 24″×48″ size and structural integrity.

Another object of the present invention is a bean bag game board set that takes up minimal space, while still being official size.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an easily transported, easily used and easily manufactured game set with a minimum of parts.

Many people from a growing number of states have stumbled onto the easyhandler.com website and bought cornhole board sets from a manufacturer that is unknown to them because of the unique, simple, portable, lightweight and effective design of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention of this application is an improvement of the functionality of the target boards of an existing popular game that incorporates two target boards, each with an upper deck measuring nominally 24 inches wide at the front and back, nominally 48 inches long from front to back, and slanted from a 2.5 to 4 inch height at the front to a 12 inch height at the back which is supported by a one or two leg apparatus, with the center of a 6 inch diameter hole located 9 inches from the rear, high end and centered @ nominally 12 inches from either side. All dimensions given are for illustrative purposes and are approximated.

The improvements are a framework that incorporates a plurality of members and supports the upper playing surface or deck that is of sufficient size to support this playing surface without adding unnecessary weight whose dimensions are deemed to be roughly 2.5 inches in height and ½″ to ¾ inches thick and made of plywood or a similar lightweight material. The framework of one of the two boards is smaller in length and width in order to reside within the framework of the second board when all four legs are folded up close to the upper decks, faced together bottom to bottom and brought together to the closed position with the upper decks facing out resulting in a width that is the sum of both ½ inch upper deck and one frame height of 2.5 inches for a total storage thickness of 3.5 inches. When the two game boards are brought together for carrying or storage, there is a void between the two upper decks and the frameworks that is used as a storage space for the eight game bags.

One lengthwise member of the smaller frame has two holes close to the center of the part at nominally 6 inches apart. A rope of approximately 24 inches in length and about the same diameter as said holes with a knot at one end is fed through from inside to outside of one of said holes, then through a 3.5 inch length of sturdy, lightweight tube and continued back through the other hole from outside to inside and then knotted to form a strong but flexible handle that can be fed through a specially shaped hole in one of the lengthwise frame members of the larger framed game board to lock game boards together as well as making the set easy to carry and comfortable for the hand.

The specially shaped slot-like hole in the lengthwise frame member of the larger frame is shaped in such a way as to allow the tube handle to be pushed through at an angle while the two ends of the slot are tapered smaller than the diameter of the handle tube to hinder the handle tube from naturally going back through the slot hole. This slot hole is wider at the middle to allow the user to insert several fingers in to grab and pull the handle through the slot hole. Another feature of the slot hole is located at each end of the tapered slot where it widens again into a round hole much smaller than the wider middle and about the same diameter as the rope part of the handle. These rounded slot ends function to hold the rope handle in the extended position while unattended.

The four game board legs are shaped in a way that combined with the location of the pivot point, they come into contact with the upper deck and frame with three points of contact when in the open position. One properly placed screw and washer are all that is necessary to fasten each leg to the game board frame side member. This design provides the additional strength that is sometimes needed when game boards are used for unintended purposes while keeping weight to a minimum.

The present invention in its preferred embodiment has been manufactured, weighed, and compared to other traditional game board sets available on the market and the present invention game set design is

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the larger framed game board shown in the open playing position that displays the handle side and top of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the smaller framed game board shown in the open position and upside down to show the underside of the frame and handle side.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of both game boards with legs in the closed position and aligned to be joined in the closed or packed up position. The arrows show the movement of the larger framed board down to the smaller framed board.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the two game boards nested together with handle in the locked position and ready to carry and store.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the handle being pushed up through the specially shaped hole at an appropriate angle.

FIG. 6 is an angled view from above showing the handle catching on the tapered ends of the slot hole when attempting to pull the handle back through demonstrating it locking ability.

FIG. 7 is an angled view from above showing the handle being held in an upright position by the rounded slot ends.

FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the two game boards in the closed and locked position as if the upper decks (shown with a dashed line) are clear to allow an interior view showing the interlocking frame design and bag storage.

FIG. 9 is a sectional side view of the folding leg area of the larger framed game board that illustrates the offset pivot, mechanical leg shape, three points of contact and rotation radius.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention will now be discussed in more detail referring to the drawings.

Looking at FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 you will see the two different game boards 20 and 21, both having a plurality of members. Both game boards 20 and 21 have an upper deck playing surface 1 with a hole 2, two legs 8, and leg fasteners 6. Game boards 20 and 21 differ when it comes to frame member sizes and the special machining to frame members. FIG. 1 shows that game board 20 has frame members upper 7, lower 5, and side member 4 that has slot hole 3 and rounded slot ends 9, all of which are located close to the outer narrow edges of upper deck 1. This outer frame forms an exterior portion when game boards 20 and 21 are nested together.

FIG. 2 illustrates the differences of game board 21 that allow the two frame portions of the separate game boards to nest together. Frame members upper 17, lower 11, and long members 10 and 15 are all located a sufficient distance from the outer narrow edges of upper deck 1 to allow the assembled frame members of 21 to rest between the assembled frame members of 20 when the two game boards are combined for transport or storage. Frame member 15 uses two machined holes 12 that are of sufficient size to pass a rope 13 through without allowing a knot 18 in that rope to pass. Game board 21 is shown upside down with legs ready to be folded along the dashed arc lines in ready for coupling with game board 20.

Looking at FIG. 3, you will see game board 20 above game board 21, both boards having legs rotated into the closed position. The arrows demonstrate the path that game board 20 should take to fit onto the upper deck of 21 with all the frame members and legs of game board 20 fitting outside of all of the frame members of game board 21. This configuration of frame member sets allows the two boards to take up a minimum of space. Frame members and upper decks are to be fastened together using screws, nails, glue, or any combination of these or other fasteners.

An illustration of the two game boards 20 and 21 assembled into the closed travel mode can be seen in FIG. 4 where All frame members and legs occupy the same space between both game boards upper deck 1. In this illustration you can observe the handle assembly 13 and 14, has been pushed through the slot hole 3 into the locked position and is loosely held by the rounded slot ends 9 that are roughly the diameter of the rope with a slightly smaller than rope diameter opening into the slot hole 3, which keeps the game boards together for transport without hinges or pins. The locking handle assembly consists of one end of rope part 13 inserted through tube 14 and then one end of rope 13 is inserted into each hole 12 of frame member 15 from the outside of the frame to inside and knotted to form knots 18. When game boards 20 and 21 are fit together as described above, the handle assembly 13 and 14 automatically aligns with slot hole 3 where parts 13 and 14 are pushed through the slot hole 3 at an angle as depicted in FIG. 5. With the handle part 14 being larger and of sufficiently different shape than the slot hole 3, it becomes a locking mechanism to keep the two game boards from falling apart when unattended as illustrated on FIG. 6. When the closed set of game boards is lifted, the handle mechanism similarly keeps the two game boards 20 and 21 in the closed position and the game bags in the interior of the closed game board set. When the closed game board set is set on the ground or floor in an upright position, rounded end slots 9 function to hold the handle assembly in an upright position yet allow the handle to be pushed back through slot hole 3 to allow the game boards to be opened and separated.

The legs 8 of the present invention are illustrated in FIG. 9 are mainly a rectangular bar shape with the ends cut at certain angles of certain lengths and the fastener screw 6 drilled in an offset pivot position through a location in the two long frame members of each game board that allows the legs 8 to fold out of the way and into the void beside the frame assembly. The angle at the bottom of each leg 8 is angled to match up with the straight ground, and the angle corner cut at the top of each leg 8 is a relief cut to allow the leg to be able to rotate from the closed position to an open position where it simultaneously touches the upper frame member 5 on game board 20 (or 17 on game board 21) and upper deck 1 and is stops rotation. The two points of contact 19 where the legs stop at the upper frame member and upper deck combined with the fastener demonstrate superior strength under a weight load while keeping game board weight low and disperse the load among several different assembly parts.

When game boards 20 and 21 are combined into the closed position there is a resulting cavity within the area of the frame members of board 21 where the game bags can be stored as shown in FIG. 8, further making this design attractive to enthusiasts since one person can carry both game boards, and all eight game bags 22 in one hand. 

What is claimed:
 1. A set of two bean-bag-game boards having improved functionality with each of said game boards comprising: a nominally ½″ thick by nominally 24″×48″ upper deck playing surface constructed of a material such as ½″ plywood or similar. A frame assembly that is light weight and short in height, made from ½″ or ¾″ plywood or similar. A handle that serves as the carrying device and simultaneously as a locking mechanism.
 2. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the overall length and width of the frame construction of one board frame is substantially smaller than that of the opposing larger board frame while the height of the frame and the dimensions of the game deck remain the same, allowing the frame and legs of the smaller board to fit inside the frame and legs of the larger board with the remaining space between decks and frames to be used for game bag storage.
 3. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the folding legs are shaped and pivoted in such a way that gives each leg the sturdiness of three points of contact with the game deck and board frame when in the open position.
 4. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein a handle constructed of a light weight, sturdy tube with a length of rope pushed through it and affixed to a game board side frame of the smaller board so as to form a fixed yet flexible handle that is then pushed through a hole in the larger exterior game board side that serves to fasten the two boards together and when lifted by said handle, the weight of the boards serves to hold them in a closed position.
 5. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the hole of the larger game board frame side is shaped in such a way as to allow the slightly larger handle to be pushed through at an angle, but must be manipulated back to said angle to return back through the hole, preventing the accidental release of the handle and giving it the further benefit of use as a fastener.
 6. A device in accordance with claim 4 wherein the hole of the larger game board frame side is shaped in such a way as to support and hold the rope of the handle in a somewhat fixed and upright position when employed in the closed or fastened position and left unattended. 